Thanks to Covid, Prince Louis missed out on this key royal milestone

With restrictions easing, hopefully the toddler can make up for lost time soon

As the youngest of the Cambridge family, Prince Louis, 3, often gets royal fans talking, whether it’s about his striking resemblance to his maternal grandfather Michael Middleton or his cute hobbies.

However, born in April 2018, Louis has been living in a pandemic for most of his life. This means that apart from the odd virtual appearance and his debut at Buckingham Palace in 2019 for Trooping the Colour, Louis has had fewer moments in the spotlight than his siblings George, 8, and Charlotte, 6.

For example, one key royal milestone that Louis’ siblings have both been able to enjoy is an official tour abroad with their parents.

Prince Louis with his parents at trooping the Colour 2019.

In 2014, Prince George visited New Zealand and Australia with Kate and William. Only nine months old at the time, George didn’t attend all the engagements, but made headlines when he met a bilby — an Australian marsupial — who is named after him at a zoo in Sydney.

Princess Charlotte’s first big trip came in 2016 when she went to Canada with her parents and older brother. Photographs of the one year old playing with balloons during a party for military families were admired by royal fans all over the world.

Meanwhile, Louis’ cousin Archie has been on a royal tour with his parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The tot went to South Africa with his parents when he was just four months old in 2019, where he got to meet the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

With Covid no longer restricting foreign travel, the royals are starting to resume their royal tours, with Kate Middleton recently visiting Denmark and Prince William the UAE.

The couple are due to travel to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas together in a few day’s time, however unfortunately for Prince Louis, the Cambridge children will not be joining them.

Royal expert Jennie Bond has suggested the parents might be looking for some quality time together. "I'm sure there's a part of them that's looking to some child-free time away, like any working parents,” Jennie told OK!.

As with all kids who’ve known little beyond the pandemic, we hope Louis gets a chance to see more of the world soon.

Kate Hollowood is a freelance journalist and writes about a range of topics for Marie Claire UK, from reports on royal news and current affairs to features on health, careers and relationships. Based in London, Kate has also written for titles like the i paper, Refinery29, Cosmopolitan and It’s Nice That.